Red Riding Wolf
by rellimmes
Summary: You think you know me. You think you know my story. But you don't, not really. The Grimm Brothers told my tale, H.C. Anderson made me famous, but they all got it wrong. I killed the wolf; that much is true. But in doing so I became a monster.


**You think you know me. You think you know my story. But you don't, not really. The Grimm Brothers told my tale, H.C. Anderson made me famous, but they all got it wrong. I killed the wolf; that much is true. But in doing so I became a monster. **

_**Red Riding Wolf **_

I plunged the silver dagger through the Wolf's mouth. That's right, down the throat and straight through the brain. But do you know how I got there? I had to stick half my arm into his jaws. Not very pleasant let me tell you! Yeah, I killed the thing, but its final act of vengeance was to bite down on my wrist. Pain coursed through my veins, and in the moment I knew I was going to die (funny, Grandmother had always said wearing my red cloak would protect me. Shows how batty she's gone!). I withdrew my arm and the weapon I had slain the Wolf with and blacked out. I thought I was a goner, and in some sense I was.

When I came to I was lying on the floor of the hut, a pool of scarlet beside me. Grandmother's body and the Huntsman were gone, shattered glass scattered about me, and the only thing still with me from the night before was the dead body of a young man in tattered clothing crumpled at my feet. He wasn't the Huntsman, this much I was sure of. The Huntsman had been a burly and muscular, this- this guy was downright disgusting! His figure was body and twisted, probably malnourished. I could count his ribs and point out every bone in his body. I stumbled away from the horrific sight and got up, examining myself for any injuries. Besides a couple bruises and the bite mark on my wrist I was fine-

_The bite mark. _

Memories came flooding back to me; almost getting eaten by the Wolf, Grandmother's ghastly remains lying in a heap on the floor, the stupid Huntsman that did practically nothing to help me , the Wolf snapping his teeth down into my flesh, everything. I shuddered and stood up, dusting myself off and preparing to return on my own home. Then I thought of something- if this starved man was here, where was the Wolf?

Pondering this I looked around at what remained of my Grandmother's home, the place I'd spent so many happy days in as a child. My sight fell upon the vanity, and the large cracked mirror sitting on it. I approached it and gazed at my reflection; despite the distortion I could still make out the slender figure of a teenage girl, almost a woman, with luscious black hair flowing down her back and fair skin, completed with a finely-toned face with perfectly shaped red lips. Did I mention the streaks of dried blood painted up and down my arm? Not afraid, I delicately ran the tips of my fingers across the stripes, and then pressed them up against the teeth marks. They didn't hurt, surprisingly, but I still pulled away almost immediately. Something wasn't right.

I looked back at the pool of crimson blood I had been lying next to, and then back at my wounds. I had lost so much - how was I still living?

Not thinking, I quickly snatched up my knife I had killed the Wolf with and pressed in up against my cheek. Surely it hadn't happened…. no, they were only stories… the blade was made entirely out of silver, it couldn't possibly… I screamed and cast it away just as fast as I had taken it up and felt where I had placed it. My cheek _burned! _I cried out in horror and backed away from the body, the blood, and the knife. My worst fears had been confirmed- the Wolf that had bitten me was a _werewolf! _

Leaving the basket and knife I had taken with me into the house I fled the scene and into the woods, sobbing. I was one of THEM, a terrifying beast to be hunted down and slaughtered! I was so overcome with fear I barely noticed how fast I was running until I stopped, deep within the heart of the Black Forest. Night was approaching fast, and now I had nowhere to go. I wrapped my red cloak, the only thing I had left in the world now, around my shouldered and forced myself onward.

Finally I came to a clearing, free of thorns and sharp brambles that tore at my peasant style dress. I breathed a sigh of relief and sank down at the foot of a large oak tree, exhausted. Now I was a fugitive. The entire village would be after my blood once they found out what had happened. For what it's worth, they're not as stupid as some would have them belief. Trust me, they'll be on a witch hunt for me soon enough. Thoughts and plans began to swirl around in my head:

_Perhaps they'll be kind and let me go home, maybe be lenient enough to tie me up when I transform during the full moon._

_Maybe they'll decide I'm not worth in and let me escape._

_If I get far enough into the forest they'll stop chasing me. _

_I can't go home; one of them will understand I wouldn't come back for anything, surely! _

_They CAN'T find me, they just CAN'T!_

I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't even notice someone sneak up on me, even with all of my enhanced tracking, hearing, and sense of smell, until it was too late. "A little lost, aren't you?" an amused voice rang out from behind me. I jumped, fearing for my new monstrous life, and whirled around ready to face whatever village boy had followed me up until this point. The werewolf in me roared, ready to leap out if my chest and devour my stalker. My once green- now- yelloweyes flashed with anger, and I backed away across the clearing snarling.

"Get back!" I snapped at the shadowy figure across the path. "Get out of here, get! I'll- I'll kill y-you! I- I will!" A low growl emaciated from my throat, and I paused. _This is new. _

The boy just chuckled at my state of being and steeped forward into the light. I felt my jaw drop. He was _beautiful. _Not cute, not charming or hot, beautiful. He had scruffy dark brown hair and fined toned muscles, not to mention the tallest and strongest figure I had ever seen. If I weren't a werewolf I would have blushed and sputtered, trying to catch my breath, but right now I wasn't thinking of how handsome he was. If this guy wanted to live, he'd better get out of here, because I was getting ready to turn any minute.

"You shouldn't be this far out in the woods dearie," he remarked, voice as soft and smooth as butter. "It's not safe, especially for a pretty little thing like you." I glared at him with my lamp-like yellow eyes. "And what makes you think you're safe from me, huh?" I retorted. The young man just laughed, taking a couple steps toward me. "Because I've been hunting in this forest longer than you've been alive!" he said. Now I was seriously starting to get annoyed. All thoughts of him as a nice guy flew out the window; I was getting ready to tear his throat out! Baring my fangs (fangs? Whoa, I was changing faster than I thought!) I snapped at him and circled around the boy, surveying which part of him would be easiest to bite into. "I don't care if you've hunted a thousand years! You're about to have a fully fledged werewolf on your hands, so if you want to be able to live and have a family of your own you might want to run!"

I must've struck a nerve, because the boy looked at me with wide eyes, first shocked, then impressed. He laughed again and leaned back on one foot, amused. "Werewolf? Oh, you must be the new wolf Seth bit yesterday. So the old sack finally bit the dust huh?" I groaned and slashed at him with elongated claws. "Don't you get it? I'm going to kill you unless you scram!"

"I don't think that's gonna be a problem," my companion chuckled, flashing a grin at me. I caught a glimpse of pearly white fangs. I gasped and covered my mouth- or tried to. Where I hands should have been were gray padded paws. I was now a fully-turned werewolf. I screamed (or howled) and turned back to face the boy. Where the handsome brute should have been stood a black and brown wolf, chortling. I rolled my eyes and sat down, frustrated. "What's so funny?" I asked meanly. The male wolf looked up at me and grinned. "Sorry about that, you just should've seen the look on your face! It was priceless! Anyways, I'm Brody. Sorry is I scared you before; I was trying to frighten you off before I turned and all. That was before you told me you were one of us though."

Brody got up and started to walk away. He turned his head slightly and beckoned me forward. "C'mon, let's go!" I was reluctant to go with some guy I'd just met, but since he was the only other werewolf I'd met just yet I decided to follow him. I ran to catch up and we made our way through the woods, Brody talking all the time.

"So it's true then? Seth actually bit someone? This is great we haven't had a new addition to the forest in _ages! _ It's been getting kind of lonely since the villagers started hunting down all of us. I'm the only one left that hasn't fled up into the mountains yet, besides Seth that is. Now I'm glad I stayed; then where would you be?" I crinkled my nose at him, confused. "Why'd you stay?" I asked curiously. Brody leapt over a fallen tree and continued. "Why shouldn't I? The prey's good, the hunters haven't dared enter the forest in months and I've got all the time in the world! That comes with immortality I guess. That's what you get when you get bitten by a werewolf besides better 5 senses. But enough about me, what about you? What's your name again?"

"Red," I answered simply. Brody nodded. "Red, cool. So Red, how'd Seth find you? I mean, it's not like he wanders out of the woods in broad daylight!" I sighed, thinking about my last full day as a human being. "I was taking a short cut through the forest. Some old guy with a cane passed me by and told me about it." Brody chuckled and led us across a small steam. "Old guy? Yeah, that'd be Seth! Funny, he hasn't used that trick in years, getting prey to take a 'quicker' route through the forest. I'd say you were supposed to be his lunch!" I yelped and stared at my new friend. "Lunch?"

But Brody just laughed again. "Yep! Looks like you were too fast for him though, eh? Frankly I'm glad you killed him. He wasn't a good kind of guy anyways. You're more fun to be around anyhow. So, where do you wanna go? There's the waterfall up over by Cripple Creek, the ditch (there's pretty good prey up there, I could teach how to hunt if you want) we could also sneak into town and scare the folk down there, that's always fun-"

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I blurted out. Brody stopped and looked at me. "I mean, sheesh, you've known me what, an hour?" I continued, now more shy and polite. Brody shrugged and winked at me. "Because I like you," he stated simply. "You seem alright by me." I smiled (or at least as much as you can when you're a wolf) and follow Brody down to the ditch.

_Maybe my new life isn't as bad as I thought. _

_**Fin.**_

**So, how'd I do? I was looking through Fanfiction, saw the Fairy Tales section and immediately thought of this. I mean, who would imagine Red Riding Hood as a werewolf? (apparently more people than I thought, but hey, I out my own ring on it!) **

**Review?**

_**Rellimmes **_


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